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While the finished product looks good, the actual fittings of the joints and the overall casting sucks. I bought 2 extension sets and both did not fit properly on the spots where the resin meets the gw plastic. Large gaps and incorrect angles. The top chapter house studios piece did not fit onto the back of the vehicle correctly (top meets back) on both sets. The bottoms were shotty casts thin on the sides and the spot where the bottom meets the back had huge separation holes...everything was just all around bad. I do not recommend this product unless you do not mind throwing out the pdf instructions and "making" parts fit and filling large holes between joints or patching uneven joints with green stuff.

I am really let down. The only good thing about this set is that it make the stormraven look decent.

I somewhat recognize your issues with the kit - however, I found them to be much less troublesome than you seem to. What I did was making four 1/4" wooden beams to glue into the plastic hull bit, protruding towards the rear for an inch or two (to three) along which I mounted the resin chapterhouse hull pieces. Was actually quite a pleasant assembly process after that, TBH.
Of course resin pieces of this kind will always have issues; it's not a kit for inexperienced modelers.
You seem to indicate you had somewhat miscast components; if that's the case, contact chapterhouse. I've found both proprietors to be pleasant and quite customer-friendly in the dealings I've had with them; I can't imagine they'd not replace bad components.

Did you contact CHS to discuss the issue? Theres no excuse for some of the issues you mentioned and I would be shocked if they werent willing to do something to resolve the issue

Please send me an email at nick@chapterhousestudios.com so we can see whats going on with your kit. Thank you.

Nick Villacci
Chapterhouse Studios

I already made all the adjustments and glued the stuff on both birds. it's too late in the ball game for fixing since everything is "fixed" persay. It's all water under the bridge since I fixed it. Someone just starting out in the hobby or not modeling oriented would have had a hard time. If I get the chance I will email you guys with some pics or more extensive explanation. Thanks for posting here. Like I said before - the extension makes the model look better so in the end I'm happy.

With all due respect, Kal, calling a company out on the forums before giving them a chance to rectify the issues (and it definitely sounds like there were issues to rectify) is poor form.

As for the issues regarding the angles being wrong; I seem to recall a couple people making that complaint when the kit first came out, only to find out they were doing it wrong. Making the cut in thr wrong place or something.

Someone "in the know" correct me if I'm wrong about that, please. It might've been a different kit, but I believe it was this one.

Eric

That's true and it was indeed a misunderstanding, as I recall. As someone with experience with his kit I can say with 100% certainty it actually lines up pretty bloody well for a resin kit like this. In fact, for any modelling kit tbh. Yes it's flimsy and needs some support IMO but it's basically quite sound. Far from perfect but at this price, pretty great (and when are resin vehicle conversion kits ever perfect?).

 MagickalMemories wrote:
With all due respect, Kal, calling a company out on the forums before giving them a chance to rectify the issues (and it definitely sounds like there were issues to rectify) is poor form.

Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 MagickalMemories wrote:
With all due respect, Kal, calling a company out on the forums before giving them a chance to rectify the issues (and it definitely sounds like there were issues to rectify) is poor form.

Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

That's different. GW is the Evil Empire and Chapterhouse are the plucky heroes.

 DarknessEternal wrote:
Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

Apples and oranges.
This is one guy with a relatively individual issue. There is no widespread and chronic issue with CHS Storm Raven extension kits like there is with Finecrap. It's one thing to have a huge amount -what seems to be a majority- of your kits come out with problems and be delivered as valid product, and something entirely different for a one-off kit to have these issues once or twice in their run.

Eric

 MagickalMemories wrote:
With all due respect, Kal, calling a company out on the forums before giving them a chance to rectify the issues (and it definitely sounds like there were issues to rectify) is poor form.

Eric

I disagree, its consumer feedback that wasn't needlessly rude or antagonistic and can be helpful to future buyers. He bought two kits from chapterhouse and found they didn't work as described without extensive modification he has every right to complain. If this was a GW product that had similar problems I doubt anyone would think it poor form if he had made a thread and complained about it.

In fact quite a few PM threads that feature GW or forgeworld products have the OP fixing casting mistakes in the very first couple of posts. It’s accepted that the product you pay for isn’t always the product you get and some people (myself included) would rather spend an extra hour making it work than calling customer service and then waiting a week for a replacement part that may or may not be as screwed up as the original part.


I will say however that I am impressed that chapterhouse sought out this thread and offered to fix the OP's problems. Now that’s customer service!

I was impressed by the chapterhouse response so quickly in the Forum.

Fit-up prior to gluing and some pining or support structures glued on would be the way to go good fit or not. But I like to design my stuff like it is going to be dropped.

The lack of details of the nature of defect: short shot, poor mold alignment, porous, lots of flash, any of these would give some credibility other than "it sucks".

An add on kit does take that little extra skill so to complain after the fact seems a little like "spouting off" unfortunately.

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 MagickalMemories wrote:
With all due respect, Kal, calling a company out on the forums before giving them a chance to rectify the issues (and it definitely sounds like there were issues to rectify) is poor form.

Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

It's more justified in that case; I think people have more of an issue with the fact that GW brought such a poor product to the marketplace, and as something that continues to have issues even 2 years into its life.

Resin is a medium that seems to have a lot of variance in the final product and every company gets it wrong (even Hawk Wargames with some of their DZC range, I have still heard the ocassional complaint - and the quality of their stuff knocks FC into a cocked hat), but I guess people will have more sympathy for what is essentially a garage-business, rather than a massive company that knows that its product is poor (due to the resin material and casting methods used) yet continues to pump it out into the marketplace because it knows a certain percentage of customers probably won't even notice that a face or fingers are missing.

@ OP

I understand that you are upset/inconvienced with this. I too have issues with some companies occasinally, short of the Great Weasel, most companies are pretty responsive.

(My issues with GW are more related to really crappy product line/productions promotions - FinceCrap and or the limited edition stuff that runs out of stock. Other than that they are pretty good at fixing things - FW is better/like old GW.)

I have ever only had one minor issue with CHS and Nick took care of it right away as soon as he was informed of it.

I have one of the kits in question myself. I had one area where the resin was a little thin - but it was so minor it was not worth mentioning.

Could you post some of the pics if possible to see what they look like now?

I'd like to see some pics of what a Stormraven with add ons looks like anyway, colour me intrigued.

cowen70 wrote:
I'd like to see some pics of what a Stormraven with add ons looks like anyway, colour me intrigued.

http://chapterhousestudios.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=200

 MagickalMemories wrote:

 DarknessEternal wrote:
Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

Apples and oranges.
This is one guy with a relatively individual issue. There is no widespread and chronic issue with CHS Storm Raven extension kits like there is with Finecrap. It's one thing to have a huge amount -what seems to be a majority- of your kits come out with problems and be delivered as valid product, and something entirely different for a one-off kit to have these issues once or twice in their run.

Eric

Is it difficult maintaining such double standards?

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 MagickalMemories wrote:

 DarknessEternal wrote:
Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

Apples and oranges.
This is one guy with a relatively individual issue. There is no widespread and chronic issue with CHS Storm Raven extension kits like there is with Finecrap. It's one thing to have a huge amount -what seems to be a majority- of your kits come out with problems and be delivered as valid product, and something entirely different for a one-off kit to have these issues once or twice in their run.

Eric

Is it difficult maintaining such double standards?

I assume it's no more difficult than pursuing a career as an internet contrarian...

Its funny how GW has replaced a Hitler refrence as the que that a thread has gone on to long. This one only lasted like 5 posts.

How did this turn into another thread about how much GW sucks and how much it doesn't?

 Pacific wrote:

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 MagickalMemories wrote:
With all due respect, Kal, calling a company out on the forums before giving them a chance to rectify the issues (and it definitely sounds like there were issues to rectify) is poor form.

Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

It's more justified in that case; I think people have more of an issue with the fact that GW brought such a poor product to the marketplace, and as something that continues to have issues even 2 years into its life.

Resin is a medium that seems to have a lot of variance in the final product and every company gets it wrong (even Hawk Wargames with some of their DZC range, I have still heard the ocassional complaint - and the quality of their stuff knocks FC into a cocked hat), but I guess people will have more sympathy for what is essentially a garage-business, rather than a massive company that knows that its product is poor (due to the resin material and casting methods used) yet continues to pump it out into the marketplace because it knows a certain percentage of customers probably won't even notice that a face or fingers are missing.

Resin has to be cast by hand, and there are a lot of variables to get right. It seems to me that resin casting would be very vulnerable to natural human peccadilloes, such as rushing to fill an order, getting bored/being lazy, being distracted, working sloppily, etc. The molds will also degrade over time, like any mold, but a resin mold will degrade much faster. Resin also cannot be reused, so there is an incentive to send out pieces that may have some problems. I am not suggesting any companies in particular do this, but your losses are more than time and mold use for a bad cast. You lose the material as well, and comparatively more wear on your mold. As a human is also doing the QC, such considerations may be in the back of their minds and a piece that, in metal, might just get thrown back in to melt, could make its way out of the door as a resin cast.

 OverwatchCNC wrote:
How did this turn into another thread about how much GW sucks and how much it doesn't?

Welcome to Dakka.

 Pacific wrote:

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 MagickalMemories wrote:
With all due respect, Kal, calling a company out on the forums before giving them a chance to rectify the issues (and it definitely sounds like there were issues to rectify) is poor form.

Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

It's more justified in that case; I think people have more of an issue with the fact that GW brought such a poor product to the marketplace, and as something that continues to have issues even 2 years into its life.

Resin is a medium that seems to have a lot of variance in the final product and every company gets it wrong (even Hawk Wargames with some of their DZC range, I have still heard the ocassional complaint - and the quality of their stuff knocks FC into a cocked hat), but I guess people will have more sympathy for what is essentially a garage-business, rather than a massive company that knows that its product is poor (due to the resin material and casting methods used) yet continues to pump it out into the marketplace because it knows a certain percentage of customers probably won't even notice that a face or fingers are missing.

Can we really say it's more justified? Did GW really bring a product so much more poor to the market or is it a combination of poor QC at the beginning and the fact that they're moving a TON more volume and so there's obviously going to be more cases of errors. In the end, it's not about the # of cases but the % of error. If GW makes 1000 of one model and has a 1% failure rate, well, of course those 10 instances are going to "appear" to be more egregious than someone making 100 models with the same failure rate.

I think it's interesting that you mention Hawk, as I had a LOT of problems with their resin. There were thin casts in LOTS of places, especially when cutting off the sprues. I had to do a fair amount of gap filling, but I didn't complain because, as an experienced customer of the resin medium, I understand it's a byproduct of the casting sometimes. Honestly, the only time I really ever complain about ANY miscast resin is when there are mould lines that I couldn't fix easily without obscuring detail. I even had this happen on a KD miniature.

I find it curious that you're forgiving of the garage businesses that are doing far less volume and, as a result, shoudl have 'better' QC.

 JohnnyHell wrote:

 OverwatchCNC wrote:
How did this turn into another thread about how much GW sucks and how much it doesn't?

Welcome to Dakka.

Umm... I've been here a while.

 OverwatchCNC wrote:

 JohnnyHell wrote:

 OverwatchCNC wrote:
How did this turn into another thread about how much GW sucks and how much it doesn't?

Welcome to Dakka.

Umm... I've been here a while.

Then you should know better that eventually every thread will turn into one about how much GW sucks and how much it doesn't?

 -Loki- wrote:

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 MagickalMemories wrote:
With all due respect, Kal, calling a company out on the forums before giving them a chance to rectify the issues (and it definitely sounds like there were issues to rectify) is poor form.

Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

That's different. GW is the Evil Empire and Chapterhouse are the plucky heroes.

That made me laugh out loud, a splendid effort.

They (CH) are though!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 MagickalMemories wrote:

 DarknessEternal wrote:
Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

Apples and oranges.
This is one guy with a relatively individual issue. There is no widespread and chronic issue with CHS Storm Raven extension kits like there is with Finecrap. It's one thing to have a huge amount -what seems to be a majority- of your kits come out with problems and be delivered as valid product, and something entirely different for a one-off kit to have these issues once or twice in their run.

Eric

Yeah, I am pretty pissed with GW at this moment in time, and I hope CH win their court case, but your answer seems to be a little unfair on GW. Its double standards to hold GW to ridiculously high standards and not demand the same from everyone else.

The difference between CHS and GW is that the problems with Finecast are persistent and widespread. Also there are several cases where people have gone to GW first but have not been supplied with a suitable replacement but given a string of crappy finecasts.

Also the suggestion that GW is bigger so should be excised more so than a garage caster. Not at all, they're supposed to be the professionals with top equipment. By all means they can skimp on QC and turn out mass produced rubbish but please adjust the prices accordingly and don't claim to offer a premium product.

 Devoted-to-the-machine wrote:
Its funny how GW has replaced a Hitler refrence as the que that a thread has gone on to long. This one only lasted like 5 posts.

All we are missing is a car analogy.


Resin isn't perfect, it takes some work (sometimes minor sometimes a hell of a lot) to make resin add on kits fit.


Hi Welcome to the wonderful world of model kit building.

weeble1000 wrote:

 Pacific wrote:

 DarknessEternal wrote:

 MagickalMemories wrote:
With all due respect, Kal, calling a company out on the forums before giving them a chance to rectify the issues (and it definitely sounds like there were issues to rectify) is poor form.

Might I direct you to the endless stream of Finecast threads even though they were exchanged every time?

It's more justified in that case; I think people have more of an issue with the fact that GW brought such a poor product to the marketplace, and as something that continues to have issues even 2 years into its life.

Resin is a medium that seems to have a lot of variance in the final product and every company gets it wrong (even Hawk Wargames with some of their DZC range, I have still heard the ocassional complaint - and the quality of their stuff knocks FC into a cocked hat), but I guess people will have more sympathy for what is essentially a garage-business, rather than a massive company that knows that its product is poor (due to the resin material and casting methods used) yet continues to pump it out into the marketplace because it knows a certain percentage of customers probably won't even notice that a face or fingers are missing.

Resin has to be cast by hand, and there are a lot of variables to get right. It seems to me that resin casting would be very vulnerable to natural human peccadilloes, such as rushing to fill an order, getting bored/being lazy, being distracted, working sloppily, etc. The molds will also degrade over time, like any mold, but a resin mold will degrade much faster. Resin also cannot be reused, so there is an incentive to send out pieces that may have some problems. I am not suggesting any companies in particular do this, but your losses are more than time and mold use for a bad cast. You lose the material as well, and comparatively more wear on your mold. As a human is also doing the QC, such considerations may be in the back of their minds and a piece that, in metal, might just get thrown back in to melt, could make its way out of the door as a resin cast.

OTOH fixing small flaws is also much, much easier in resin than in metal. I'd vastly prefer having to fix any kind of defect in resin as opposed to the same defect in metal, so it's actually acceptable to send out a piece with slightly more issues. Might still take less time to fix etc.

I'd like to see a few pics from the OP's kits, get a feel for the issues he's hinting at. we've been at this thread for a while now but there's not much of any substance to discuss without such images.

OP has said that he's fixed the issue, so images won't show us any problems... Suffice it to say, without any sort of images showing what exactly was wrong, this thread has gone off topic and should probably be locked.